About nine years ago, my mom thoughtfully bought me a pair of black workout gloves, for lifting weights. Those gloves have literally been all around the world with me - they're always in my backpack, just in case there happen to be heavy metal objects to lift at the hotel I'm staying in. A week or two ago, I moved the gloves from my backpack to my workout bag (clever, I know), worked out, went home, etc. The next day, as I'm pulling into my favorite parking spot at work, I spot a black workout glove on the ground. Same brand as mine, just sitting there. At the time, it somehow made logical sense to me that the glove was someone else's, and the best thing I could do is leave it right there for them. Later that day, glove is still there. I worked out, but it was a running day or something. Next day, I think that glove was still lying there. The following day, it was gone. Time to lift weights, check the backpack, only one glove. FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. And the worst thing is, I probably ran that poor bastard over two or three times. Sorry, Mr. Harbinger Black Workout Glove. R.I.P.
I've lost count of how many times Koreans have asked me the question, "How long do you stay in Korea?" in those words or something very similar. Clearly this question is taught in every English class in Korea, because I hear it over and over again, so I just wanted to be very clear about something here:
DO NOT USE THIS EXPRESSION. IT IS INCORRECT.
This phrase is incorrect for a few reasons, but primarily because it sounds ambiguous to native English speakers. Specifically, there are probably two different questions that you really want to ask:
1) How long have you been in Korea? (한국에 오신지 얼마나 됐어요?)
2) How long will you stay in Korea? (한국에 얼마나 있을 거예요?/한국에 얼마동안 있을 계획이에요?)
Nearly always the intended question is number 1, "How long have you been in Korea?", followed afterwards by number 2, "How long will you stay in Korea?". But the incorrectly stated question ambiguously sounds somewhere in between number 1 and number 2. So, don't ever use it again. T…
DO NOT USE THIS EXPRESSION. IT IS INCORRECT.
This phrase is incorrect for a few reasons, but primarily because it sounds ambiguous to native English speakers. Specifically, there are probably two different questions that you really want to ask:
1) How long have you been in Korea? (한국에 오신지 얼마나 됐어요?)
2) How long will you stay in Korea? (한국에 얼마나 있을 거예요?/한국에 얼마동안 있을 계획이에요?)
Nearly always the intended question is number 1, "How long have you been in Korea?", followed afterwards by number 2, "How long will you stay in Korea?". But the incorrectly stated question ambiguously sounds somewhere in between number 1 and number 2. So, don't ever use it again. T…
Something similar happened to me. It actually happened to me more than once. I had my knitted hat from Roots since I was in Buffalo, NY. I wore it a lot during the winter cos it was really cold. When I got into my car, I'd take it off and put it on my lap. And twice, I totally forgot all about it, got off the car, walked home and realized two days later that I left it frozen to death on the driveway, covered by snow and hard as a stone. I actually walked past it once, thinking what the heck is that ugly thing (as it'd already become wet and black-ish) doing next to my car. I took it home and revived it with warm water and dryer, and did the same thing to it again a few weeks later.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there was last winter, I went to somewhere along central coast with my friends and I lost the hat at the parking lot of some information center, but I'm glad we were able to rescue it from bird and elephant seals. Now it's lying happily on the carpet, ready to serve.